How good is maxamet steel for edc?

[Ales D]

Greetings,
considering i'm about to buy a Maxamet bladed Spydie .. i was wondering how it performs in EDC.

Consider i don't ask anything "heavy" or "specific" to my EDCs: if i need someting in particular i simply take the right knife rather than a generic EDC [Example: i'm not a fisherman, but if i know i'm going close to water,expecially if it's salt water, i'f carry my pacific salt.
When i hunt i usually carry a Kabar istead of a pocket knife (well..let's say both :P).. and so on].

What i ask to my EDC is a good rust resistence [i'm not so close to salt water very often, but lakes on the other hand..we are plenty of lakes here, and it's summer time] and a good edge retention [it could happen i'm not able to sharp it every single day].

Now,i'm gonna buy a maxamet balde anyway... BUT, if it's good for my kind of EDC i'm gonna buy another Manix2 .. if not it is very likely going to be my forst native 5.

[ZrowsN1s]

It patinas from finger prints, but I haven't found it to be rust prone at all. Disclaimer, my sweat does not corrode knives like some peoples does :D Maxamet is less corrosion prone than M4 and more corrosion prone than ZDP-189 (imo). If you have a pacific salt for "wet" work so to speak, then maxamet should be just fine for most edc.

BTW I very much recommend the native 5. You are going to like this steel a lot.

[ramasipsc]

If you are looking for good rust resistance and good edge retention you should look to CPM S110V steel. Maxamet is not rust resistant steel and needs some maintenance.

[Robbob]

I just purchased a Maxamet Native 5, which is my first Native. It is, by far, the sharpest Spyderco out-of-the-box I've ever seen. I don't have corrosion issues with my EDCs because I don't get to carry them but on weekends and days off. However, if carried in as dry a manner as possible I don't think Maxamet will be a problem.

[Doc Dan]

I think S110V would be a much better choice.

[yablanowitz]

I've been carrying a Maxamet Manix in my back pocket everyday since they came out. No oil, no special care, no rust. That said, Maxamet is a tool steel, not a stainless steel. It resists corrosion well enough for me, but I live in a pretty dry climate. As far as edge holding goes, it beats everything else I've tried. I like it a lot.

[Evil D]

I do hope to see it come in the Military at some point but I think for EDC I only have so much need for all out edge retention and S110V is good enough while also being one of the best at corrosion resistance. It's a steel I'm excited to own and use but for true every day carry I'd probably choose S110V over it.

[Ales D]

I own s110v already: the s110v manix lightweight is probably the knife i carry the most (well along with enduras,because i love enduras!).

I think,anyway, i'm gonna buy a maxamet Native. Thank you everybody.

[Nate]

I don't need crazy alloys like Maxamet for my cutting chores, but I still had to have at least one blade in it. The Native lw is an excellent package.

[anycal]

I don't need ...

Had to lookup the meaning of that phrase.

Can't wait to get my PM2 in Maxamet. And yes, the Native 5 is an excellent package.

[3rdGenRigger]

I've had my Maxamet Manix 2 since they dropped...had it pre-ordered actually. I've seen lots of requests for feedback regarding it, but I haven't really had all that much to say for a number of reasons. I've used it quite extensively since I got it, but it didn't need to be sharpened yet so I held back. It really went a long way and was still quite sharp...it wouldn't dry shave any longer but would still easily slice and push cut receipt paper so I kept holding back waiting for it to get the the point where it would do neither. The sharpness was still going strong last week, but I was cutting apart a large cardboard box (To free the cell phone antenna within), and hit an unseen staple with decent force. The damage was surprisingly minimal given how hard this steel is heat treated. I was expecting a lot worse and was pleasantly surprised. Well today I decided to sharpen the chip out of the edge, and knowing how hard this steel is, I hunkered down and was prepared to put a lot of work into restoring the edge. I didn't do a full reprofile...it was still the factory edge but I decided to go with a 40 degree microbevel because it will hold up better at work that way, though I was still expecting a battle. To my surprise, it was actually very easy to sharpen. Went through the diamond rods and within 5 minutes the chip was gone. Went through the medium rods for another 5 minutes and it was feeling quite sharp and would already dry shave hair. Went through the fine rods for another 5 minutes just for fun and it now pops hairs off with total ease. I'm flabbergasted at how easy this steel is to sharpen at this hardness level, and quite impressed with its durability. I'm still more of a CruWear fan because it suits my work needs better, but Maxamet is VERY impressive. At this ease of sharpening and edge retention it's a game changer as far as I'm concerned.

[ZrowsN1s]

I've had my Maxamet Manix 2 since they dropped...had it pre-ordered actually. I've seen lots of requests for feedback regarding it, but I haven't really had all that much to say for a number of reasons. I've used it quite extensively since I got it, but it didn't need to be sharpened yet so I held back. It really went a long way and was still quite sharp...it wouldn't dry shave any longer but would still easily slice and push cut receipt paper so I kept holding back waiting for it to get the the point where it would do neither. The sharpness was still going strong last week, but I was cutting apart a large cardboard box (To free the cell phone antenna within), and hit an unseen staple with decent force. The damage was surprisingly minimal given how hard this steel is heat treated. I was expecting a lot worse and was pleasantly surprised. Well today I decided to sharpen the chip out of the edge, and knowing how hard this steel is, I hunkered down and was prepared to put a lot of work into restoring the edge. I didn't do a full reprofile...it was still the factory edge but I decided to go with a 40 degree microbevel because it will hold up better at work that way, though I was still expecting a battle. To my surprise, it was actually very easy to sharpen. Went through the diamond rods and within 5 minutes the chip was gone. Went through the medium rods for another 5 minutes and it was feeling quite sharp and would already dry shave hair. Went through the fine rods for another 5 minutes just for fun and it now pops hairs off with total ease. I'm flabbergasted at how easy this steel is to sharpen at this hardness level, and quite impressed with its durability. I'm still more of a CruWear fan because it suits my work needs better, but Maxamet is VERY impressive. At this ease of sharpening and edge retention it's a game changer as far as I'm concerned.

It IS interesting isn't it? You can feel how hard the steel is against the stones... and yet... easy to sharpen. I had the same experience.
*I had a much harder time with s110v

[tripscheck'em]

Greetings,
considering i'm about to buy a Maxamet bladed Spydie .. i was wondering how it performs in EDC.

How good is a V12 Ferrari F1 car for edc? Serious question.

I used to do the super steel pull when I was new, but now I keep just good ol' D2 around for skinning animals and VG-10 for edc. Besides D2, I now have a lone XHP Manix to satisfy my occasional super steel thirst, and those are boring steels in these parts.

[ZrowsN1s]

Been carrying the Native 5 again this week paired with my P'kal and HB ladybug. Still very impressed by Maxamets performance, it's tied with HAP 40 as my favorite Steel at the moment. I really like how dense the steel feels, I'm fairly certain I could cut a hole in a car door with it. Not that I would

[Doc Dan]

I really need to try this steel. The question is, Native 5 or Manix 2? Hmmmm.

[ZrowsN1s]

I really need to try this steel. The question is, Native 5 or Manix 2? Hmmmm.

You know I really prefer the ergo's and size of the Native 5 LW, but this steel is heavy duty enough it might be worth pairing it with CBBL lock of the Manix 2, so you can be harder on it.

[3rdGenRigger]

I loaned my Maxamet M2 to the manager of my local B&M because he's better than I am at sharpening and he has a taste for more expensive knives than I do, but is still a strong Spyderco fan (And I value his inputs as he's tried a lot more things that I have). He was absolutely flabbergasted at the performance of Maxamet and described it as "The next generation of knife steel", and I have to agree with him. He described sharpening it as akin to sharpening a crayon. He joked that I was trying to trick him by remarking a BD1 blade and substituting it in because of how easy it sharpens, but he was very impressed with the edge retention, and even more impressed by the toughness of Maxamet. How can a steel this hard not be brittle and sharpen so easily? It is surprisingly tough...I've bounced it fairly hard off of metal chains while cutting zip ties and had literally no adverse effects. If it was M4 or ZDP-189 I'd have had some work to do fixing the damage, and Maxamet just shrugged if off like nothing happened, and it's easier to sharpen or reprofile than either. He removed my microbevel and did a really nice polished edge at 15 DPS and it's been holding up perfectly at 15 DPS. It also polishes out nicely.

[wade7575]

For anyone who is looking for domething to help prevent corrosion and rust try Frog Lube I have not tried it yet but will be soon in the near future.
George from S.T.A.T.E.S LL witch stands for (sharper then any two edge sword) he is the importer for the K02 Sharpening system from Russia and I must say you can George is a very honest and trust worthy person.

George told me that he has a friend that goes to Thailand ad competes in some sort of competition with swords and they wack them together pretty hard to from what George said and the guy told George he use's Frog Lube on his blade and just heats the metal really good with a hair drier and then applies the Frog Lube and his blade does not rust even where the edge is chipped,also they are not using fencing swords either George said they are a heavier sword of some type.

I have also seen a lot of good reviews on Frog Lube online and it seems to be a good product.

[Strider]

I use Frog Lube on my guns. Not sure why it never occurred to me to try it on knives, as well.

[David45]

I live in sunny South Florida. I love my PM2 in S110V but it took me a lot of sharpening with a Wicked Edge to get it right. I settled on 17 degrees per side with a freehand micro-bevel using the white ceramic Sharpmaker rod. This ZeDC is perfect for its environment.

I bought the Maxamet Manix LW because I just had to. Now I’m not too enthusiastic about EDCing it because the humidity here is salt laden. I appreciate good steel but the Maxy still sits in its moisture controlled box in air conditioning with a relative humidity below 50%.
I’ll break it out if something happens to the PM2. It’ll have a nice edge when needed!